Adynaton (; plural adynata) is a
figure of speech
A figure of speech or rhetorical figure is a word or phrase that intentionally deviates from ordinary language use in order to produce a rhetorical effect. Figures of speech are traditionally classified into '' schemes,'' which vary the ordinary ...
in the form of
hyperbole
Hyperbole (; adj. hyperbolic ) is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. In rhetoric, it is also sometimes known as auxesis (literally 'growth'). In poetry and oratory, it emphasizes, evokes strong feelings, and ...
taken to such extreme lengths as to insinuate a complete impossibility:
I will sooner have a beard grow in the palm of my hand than he shall get one on his cheek.
The word derives from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
ἀδύνατον (''adunaton''), neuter of ἀδύνατος (''adunatos''), "unable, impossible" (''a-'', "without" + ''dynasthai'', "to be possible or powerful").
Classical and medieval usage
Adynaton was a widespread literary and
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...
al device during the
Classical Period. In the
Eclogue
An eclogue is a poem in a classical style on a pastoral subject. Poems in the genre are sometimes also called bucolics.
Overview
The form of the word ''eclogue'' in contemporary English developed from Middle English , which came from Latin , wh ...
of
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
, there is a long list of
proverb
A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...
s and the first section is titled ΠΕΡΙ ΤΩΝ ΑΔΥΝΑΤΩΝ, consisting of proverbs that are built on adynaton. The adynaton form was often used for vows and covenants, such as in the 16th
Epode of Horace, 25-34.
Its plural form (''adynata'') was translated in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
as ''impossibilia''. A frequent usage was to refer to one highly unlikely event occurring ''sooner'' than another:
Zenobius's collection of proverbial expressions includes "to
count sand" to characterize something impossible or unattainable.
However it largely fell into disuse during the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
before undergoing a minor revival in the works of romantic poets, who would boast of the power of their love, and how it could never end.
Fiction, folklore and drama
Adynata are sometimes used within works of fiction or drama:
Impossible tasks appear often in
legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
s and
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, and can form elements of
ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...
s,
riddle
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...
s and
proverb
A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phra ...
s. Examples include: the tale of "
The Spinning-Woman by the Spring
The Spinning-Woman by the Spring or The Kind and the Unkind Girls is a widespread, traditional folk tale, known throughout Europe and in certain regions of Asia, including Indonesia. The tale is cataloged as AT 480 in the international Folktale ...
",
Modern usage
Some modern adynata include:
* In
Bulgarian
Bulgarian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Bulgaria
* Bulgarians, a South Slavic ethnic group
* Bulgarian language, a Slavic language
* Bulgarian alphabet
* A citizen of Bulgaria, see Demographics of Bulgaria
* Bul ...
: ''когато цъфнат налъмите'' (''kogato tsâfnat nalâmite'', "when the
clogs
Clogs are a type of footwear made in part or completely from wood. Used in many parts of the world, their forms can vary by culture, but often remained unchanged for centuries within a culture.
Traditional clogs remain in use as protective f ...
blossom")
and ''когато върбата роди круши'' (''kogato vârbata rodi krushi'', "when pears grow on a willow tree").
koga se pokači svinja s z´´lti čehli na krusa (when the pig in yellow slippers climbs the pear tree
* In
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
English: "When the
Leafs win the
Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...
".
* in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
: ''Als Pasen en Pinksteren op één dag vallen'' ("when Easter and Pentecost are the same day");
from a poem by
Gerrit Komrij
Gerrit Jan Komrij (30 March 1944 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch poet, novelist, translator, critic, polemic journalist and playwright. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s writing poetry that sharply contrasted with the free-form poetry of his ...
: "Eer maakt men lakens wit met inkt (...) dan dat ik (...) zeg wat ik thans lijden moet" ("Sooner will sheets be bleached with ink (...) than my suffering revealed by me"). "Op St. Juttemis" ("On St. Jutmas", i.e. the feast day of a nonexistent saint)
* In
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
: ''
When pigs fly!'',
and ''Not before Hell freezes over!''
and its derivative ''
A snowball's chance in hell''. When the moon turns to green cheese.
/ref>
* in Finnish language, Finnish: ''kun lehmät lentävät'' ("when cows fly") or ''kun lipputanko kukkii'' ("when flagpole blossoms")
* In French: ''Quand les poules auront des dents'' ("When hens grow teeth"), ''La semaine des quatre jeudis'' ("The week of the four Thursdays") . "À la St. Glinglin" (on the feast day of the nonexistent St. Glinglin); "Aux calendes grecques" (on the Greek Kalendae
The calends or kalends ( la, kalendae) is the first day of every month in the Roman calendar. The English word " calendar" is derived from this word.
Use
The Romans called the first day of every month the ''calends'', signifying the start of a n ...
, which of course only existed on the Roman calendar
The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...
)
* In German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
: ''Wenn Schweine fliegen könnten'' ( "When pigs can fly"); ''Wenn Ostern und Weihnachten zusammenfallen'' ("When Easter and Christmas coincide")
* In Hungarian: ''majd ha piros hó esik'' ("when it's snowing red")
* in Romanian
Romanian may refer to:
*anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania
**Romanians, an ethnic group
**Romanian language, a Romance language
*** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language
** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...
: ''La Paştele Cailor'' ("on horses' Easter")
* In Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
: ''Quando gli asini voleranno'' ("When donkeys fly").
* In Latvian: ''Kad pūcei aste ziedēs'' ("When an owl's tail blooms")
* In Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
: ''Tunggu kucing bertanduk'' ("when cats grow horns").
* In Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
: '' "കാക്ക മലർന്നു പറക്കും (kākka malarnnu paṟakkuṃ)" '' ("When hecrow will fly upside down").
* In Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
: ''Prędzej mi kaktus na dłoni wyrośnie'' ("Sooner the cactus grows on my palm.").
* In Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
: ''quando as galinhas tiverem dentes'' ("when hens grow teeth"), ''nem que a vaca tussa'' ("not even if the cow coughs"), ''nem que chovam canivetes'' ("not even if it rains penknives"), ''no dia de São Nunca à tarde'' ("in the afternoon of St. Never's day").
* In Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
: ''когда рак на горе свистнет'' (''kogdá rak na goré svístnet'', "when the crawfish whistles on the mountain").
* In Serbian or Croatian: ''kad na vrbi rodi grožđe'' ("when grapes grow on a willow").
* In Slovak: ''keď budú padať traktory'' ("when tractors will fall") or ''na svätého dindi'' ("On St. Dindi" probably taken from French.)
* In Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
: ''Cuando las vacas vuelen'' ("When cows fly"), instead of "las vacas" the words "los chanchos" are also used, replacing "the cows" with "the pigs" or, in Spain (presumably) there could also be used ''Cuando las ranas críen pelo'' ("When the frogs grow hairs")
* in Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
: ''två torsdagar i veckan'' ("two Thursdays in the same week"). It is also said as "two Sundays in the same week", but other weekdays are rarely used.
* In Turkish: ''balık kavağa çıkınca'' ("when fish climb poplar trees").
* In Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
: ''vaght-e gol-e ney'' ("when bamboo blossoms")
See also
* Aposiopesis
Aposiopesis (; Classical Greek: ἀποσιώπησις, "becoming silent") is a figure of speech wherein a sentence is deliberately broken off and left unfinished, the ending to be supplied by the imagination, giving an impression of unwillingness ...
* Black swan theory
The black swan theory or theory of black swan events is a metaphor that describes an event that comes as a surprise, has a major effect, and is often inappropriately rationalized after the fact with the benefit of hindsight. The term is based o ...
* Nonsense
Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous
To be ridiculous is to be something which is ...
* Paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
* 'Pataphysics
Pataphysics (french: 'pataphysique) is a "philosophy" of science invented by French writer Alfred Jarry (1873–1907) intended to be a parody of science. Difficult to be simply defined or pinned down, it has been described as the "science of ima ...
* Scarborough Fair (ballad)
"Scarborough Fair" ( Child 2, Roud 12) is a traditional English ballad. The song, which is a variant of The Elfin Knight, lists a number of impossible tasks given to a former lover who lives in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The "Scarborough/W ...
Citations
References and further reading
Some Notes on the Adynaton in Medieval Literature
* Ronald Grambo, ''Adynaton Symbols in Proverbs. A Few Fragmentary Remarks'' (pp. 456–458). ''Proverbium 15''. Helsinki 1970.
* Martti Haavio, ''Omöjlighetssymboler i finsk epik'' (pp. 73-83). Sed och Sägen 1956.
* Myers, J., Wukasch, D
Dictionary of poetic terms
* Henrik Ibsens Skrifter ''Brand''. Peer Gynt. Universitetet i Oslo. H. Aschehoug & Co. (William Nygaard). Oslo 2007. .
* Opata, D. "Adynaton Symbols in Igbo Proverbial Usage." ''Lore & Languages'', VI (1) (1987): 51–57.
External links
* {{Wiktionary inline
Figures of speech
Poetic devices